“…Mg2+ or Ni2+ for AP+), leads to novel acidic solids that are effective in, for example, converting methanol to alkenes.5 This is known to be the case for SAPO-34,6 for example, and for Ni-SAPO-34. 7 Bearing in mind the very large number of known silicate structures,* encompassing chain-and sheet-as well as three-dimensional-framework variants, one should expect that aluminium phosphates ( 2 S P = AIIII + Pv) could be capable of crystallizing in one-and two-dimensionally extended structures. Such low-dimensional structures would have many potential advantages as novel acid catalysts.9 We have recently discovered that using a predominantly non-aqueous environment for synthesis, a chain aluminium phosphate (H2A1P208) -bearing recurrent -P( 0)( OH) acidic groups along the backbone does indeed exist.10 We now report the preparation, under similar (non-aqueous) conditions, and the structural elucidation of the first example of a sheet aluminium phosphate anion, (A13P4016)~-.…”